SCHOOL-BASED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY RESOURCE LIST

for Occupational Therapists and Districts Providing Occupational Therapy Services

AOTA Practice Documents

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) (1993). Core values and attitudes of occupational therapy practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT), 47, 1085-1086.

AOTA (2005). Occupational therapy code of ethics (2005). AJOT, 59, 639-642.

AOTA (2003). Guidelines for documentation of occupational therapy (2003). AJOT, 57, 646-649.

AOTA. (2004). Guidelines for supervision, roles and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services. AJOT, 58, 663-667.

AOTA (2002). Occupational therapy practice framework: domain and process. AJOT, 56, 609–639.

AOTA (2004). Psychosocial aspects of occupational therapy. AJOT, 58 669-672

AOTA (2004). Scope of practice. AJOT, 58, 673-677.

AOTA (2005). Standards for continuing competence. AJOT, 59, 661-662.

AOTA. (2001). Decision tree to assist in determining appropriate use of an occupational therapy assistant (OTA) OT Practice (Oct. 1, 2001).

Guidelines for School-Based Occupational Therapy Services

AOTA (1999b). Occupational therapy services for children and youth under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2nd ed.). Bethesda, MD: Author.

AOTA (2000). Specialized knowledge and skills for eating and feeding in occupational therapy practice. AJOT, 57, 660-678.

AOTA (July, 2003). School Systems SIS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, MD. (available to AOTA members at http://www.aota.org/members/area3/#school).

AOTA (2003). Applying sensory integration framework in educationally related occupational therapy practice. AJOT, 57, 652-659.

AOTA. (2004). Assistive technology within Occupational therapy practice. AJOT, 58, 678-679.

AOTA. (2004). Occupational therapy services in early intervention and school-based programs. AJOT, 58, 681-685.

AOTA (2005). The scope of occupational therapy services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders across the lifespan. AJOT, 59, 680-683.

Giangreco, M. (2001). Guidelines for Making Decisions About I.E.P. Services. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Department of Education (available online at http://www.uvm.edu/~cdci/iepservices/).

Handley-More, D. (2003, March). Supervising occupational therapy assistants in the schools. School System Special Interest Section Quarterly, 10, 1-4 (available to AOTA members at http://www.aota.org/members/area3/#school).

Jackson, L. & Arbesman, M. (2005). Occupational therapy practice guidelines for children with behavioral and psychosocial needs. Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association Press.

NICHCY (2001). Related Services. Washington, DC: Author (available at http://www.nichcy.org/newsdig.asp).

Polichino, J. (2001, June). An education-based reasoning model to support best practices for school-based OT under IDEA 97. School System Special Interest Section Quarterly, 8, 1-4 (available to AOTA members at http://www.aota.org/members/area3/#school).

Swinth, Y. & Hanft, B. (2002). School-based practice: Moving beyond 1:1 service delivery. OT Practice, 7 (16), 12-20 (available to AOTA members at http://www.aota.org/featured/area3/links/f-index.asp). 

Preparation and Certification Requirements for School-Based Occupational Therapists

Swinth, Y., Chandler, B, Hanft, B., Jackson, L. & Shepherd, J. (April, 2003). Personnel Issues in School-Based Occupational Therapy: Supply and demand, preparation, and certification and licensure. Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education, Gainsville, FL. (available online at http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse - click on "Complete COPSSE Library" and select "Executive Summaries").

Continuing Education

Occupational Therapy in School-Based Practice: Contemporary Issues and Trends – an online course available from AOTA. Register at www.aota.org (click on Continuing Education) or call 800-SAY- AOTA (members) or 301-652-2682 (non members). Group rates are available by special arrangement.

Early Intervention and School-Based Occupational Therapy: Best Practice – an AOTA workshop on providing services under the "new 2004" Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), AOTA official documents, and Section 504. Register at www.aota.org (click on Continuing Education) or call 800-SAY-AOTA (members) or 301-652-2682 (non members).

Laws Relating to Occupational Therapy and Special Education

Occupational therapist that work in Washington State schools should be aware of the federal and state laws that apply to school-based occupational therapy. Those laws include: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) (http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html); the law (Chapter 18.59 RCW) and Washington Administrative Codes (WACs) (Chapter 246-847 WAC) related to occupational therapy practice in Washington; the WACs that address the provision of special education services in Washington (Chapter 392-172 WAC ); the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct for occupational therapists (Chapter 246-847-170 WAC) and the Code of Professional Conduct for education professionals (Chapter 180-87 WAC ).

Additional Resources

IDEA Partnerships (www.ideapartnerships.org): Check out the Dialog Guides for information released by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on changes in IDEA 2004 and hot topics related to IDEA implementation of IDEA 2004. Check out the Information collections for articles on topics related to federal legislation, instructional practices and research.

AOTA (www.aota.org): The AOTA Standards of Practice Documents and other publications can be purchased online from AOTA. Some of the documents are also available online for AOTA members to download free of charge. School districts can purchase an Organizational Associate Membership to receive subscriptions to the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, OT Practice and quarterly specialty interest sections newsletters in addition to other benefits that can be shared among the district employees.

AOTA Evidence Briefs (www.aota.org): AOTA has developed some easy-to-read summaries of articles selected from evidence-based reviews of the scientific literature. Many of these Evidence Briefs address topics relevant to school-based occupational therapy including: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Children with Behavioral and Psychosocial Needs, Developmental Delay in Young Children, and School-Based Interventions. The articles are available from to the AOTA website (click on the "Evidence-Based Practice Resources" link under the Members Only tab). You must be an AOTA member to access this resource.

Washington Occupational Therapy Association (WOTA) (www.wota.org): WOTA provides support to school-based occupational therapists in Washington State via Occupational Therapists In Schools (OTIS), a WOTA standing committee. Look for periodic updates to this resource list, Ask OTIS articles from the WOTA Newsletter that provide answers to questions about occupational therapy services in school-based practice, and links to useful resources. Click on the OTIS link at the WOTA web site for information on these and other OTIS activities.